The Water Puppets

Last  night we went to the famous water puppet theater show. It is an intimate theater full of  travelers from all over the world. There is live music and singing throughout the show and the puppetry is wonderful and colorful--with spitting dragons and fire throwing Samuri on horseback. Each day we plan one main event to do around the city. It is complete sensory overload. Today we went to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum which is a grand complex near his palace and gardens. I must say it was strange to see Ho Chi Minh himself --as we walked around the special tomb/capsule there was complete silence. Jesse's eyeballs almost popped out of his head as did mine. We are looking forward to leaving the city and heading for the quiet Buddhist temples of Louang Probang. Our quiet alley, it turns out, has Jesse's favorite french fries made to order. We walk by the little family and woman who prepares them and it costs $1.50 US for a pile of fries with a special flavor that I can't place exactly. The flavors combining lime, chiles, soy sauce, cilantro-basil and lemongrass meld in my mind as memorable--but things taste a bit salty as well. Jesse is a champ with his chop sticks. Hanoi is a tiring, but very interesting place. Our hotel is in the silk district so.......

:BTM